Guyana Elections 2015: Commonwealth Observer Group arrival statement by Hon Kate Wilkinson
It is an honour and a privilege to lead the Commonwealth Observer Group for Guyana’s 2015 National and Regional Elections.
The Commonwealth has long supported elections in Guyana. Its first election observation exercise dates back to 1992. The Commonwealth Charter, which was adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments in 2012, has at its heart credible and peaceful elections that enable citizens to choose their leaders.
Our group was constituted by Commonwealth Secretary-General Mr Kamalesh Sharma, following an invitation from the Office of the President of Guyana and the findings of an assessment team which was in Guyana last month.
The Commonwealth Observer Group is made up of seven persons from different regions of the Commonwealth and from a range of professions and areas of expertise.
It is our responsibility as observers to consider factors relating to the credibility of the electoral process as a whole. This includes observing and evaluating the pre-election period, election day itself, as well as the post-election period.
Members of this group are participating in their individual capacities. We act with impartiality, objectivity and independence. We do not have a supervisory role.
We will assess whether the elections have been conducted according to the standards to which Guyana has committed itself, including through its constitutional and legislative framework and relevant Commonwealth and international commitments.
We arrived in the country on 5 May. We have met with the Electoral Commission of Guyana, some of the political parties, members of the press and international organisations.
Over the next two days we will continue to meet with a range of relevant stakeholders, including domestic and other international observer groups, youth representatives and members of the business community. We plan to take every opportunity to see and understand the election process for ourselves.
On 9 May, our teams will deploy to regions across the country to observe the election environment and preparations for election day. On 11 May, our teams will observe the opening and closing of the polls, the polling itself, counting of votes and transmittal of results. We will consult with other observer groups which will have teams throughout the country.
Our Group will issue an Interim Statement of key findings shortly after the elections. Thereafter, and before our departure from Guyana on 17 May, we will prepare our final report.
This report of our assessment will be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who will in turn forward it to the Government of Guyana, the Elections Commission, the leadership of political parties, and then to all the Commonwealth governments. The report will then be made publicly available, here and throughout the Commonwealth.
We look forward to a high turnout on election-day and the conduct of peaceful elections. We encourage political parties to take a constructive approach to campaigning in these remaining days before the election. We also strongly urge the parties to respond to the officially declared results in a responsible manner.
We wish the people of Guyana well as they embark on this important national process.
